July 17, (THEWILL) – Paris Mayor, Anne Hidalgo, swam in the River Seine on Wednesday, fulfilling her promise to prove the water’s cleanliness for the upcoming 2024 Olympic Games. Hidalgo, wearing a wetsuit and goggles, took the plunge into the river, joined by Tony Estanguet, head of the Paris Olympics Organising Committee and others.
The swim aims to convince doubters that the Seine’s waters will be suitable for Olympic swimming events. According to recent water quality reports, the river would be fit for swimming on six out of seven days at the designated Olympic sites. Decisions on whether to hold events will be made the night before and early on the same morning by a Technical Committee.
Paris has been working to clean up the Seine, constructing a large storage basin to hold wastewater before treatment. If the river fails to meet health standards, contingency plans are in place to move events to alternative locations. The city’s efforts are part of a larger goal to make the Seine swimmable again, as it was during the 1900 Paris Olympics.
While some tourists remain sceptical about the river’s cleanliness, local swimming enthusiasts, who joined Hidalgo expressed excitement about the possibility of urban swimming becoming a reality. French Sports Minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra had also taken a swim in the Seine on the previous Saturday.
The triathlon and marathon swimming events for the 2024 Olympics, scheduled from July 26 to August 11, are set to take place in the Seine. This swim by the mayor marks an important milestone in the city’s preparations for the games, signalling domestic confidence in the river’s water quality.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
